Hokay, ad execs in Italy have a sense of humor too. The above ad copy urged us to buy the Shoes (scarpe) Of The Day at our favorite retailer, though admittedly I don't remember what brand of shoes were of the Heralded variety.

Today, Friday October 17, was the only weekday listed on our bulging calendar plans as a "Free Day." Taking full advantage of this official reprieve, I used the afternoon to write some postcards back home, having acquired a handful with striking images of San Marco pavement mosaics. Then on to Bibli to e-mail a journal entry home for, ah, safekeeping. :-) Hey, if some people can keep their journal on paper, then dagnabbit I should be able to do it on a computer!

Having taken full advantage of my free Friday, on Saturday I decided to make amends by heading to the Rome Center to work on the next assignment, the Liminal States project.

I was told that Sara was not available at the Rome Center today. Which was odd, since she's a grad student and all, and I had seen her returning on the train from Venice yesterday ... hmmm ...

I already had purchased gel medium to manipulate the texture and visibility of images, so now it was time to start sorting through the library of images we had experienced in person thus far, and start making copies. To do this within the Rome Center's limited resources, I would need a copy key for the prized and secure copy machine, and to get the copy key I would need help from a superior. The most likely candidate was our grad-student assistant, Sara Yerkes, but I was told that she was not available at the Rome Center today. Which was odd, since she's a grad student and all, and I had seen her returning on the train from Venice yesterday ... hmmm ...

...but there were others available to help with the logistics of the copy machine, and I spent a lovely Saturday afternoon above the Campo de' Fiori sticking photos, drawings, newspapers and anything else of interest onto the glass of the UWRC's single, overburdened copy machine so that I would have a market-field full of ideas from which to choose.

The next day I happened to be roving past St. Peter's

I also finally figured out how to get our gas oven in the apartment turned on so that my meals no longer had to be cooked on the stovetop.

and just barely missed seeing Pope John Paul II, who earlier in the day had given a speech to the masses in celebration of the 19th anniversary of his ascension to the Throne of St. Peter (which had actually occurred on the 16th as we left Venice, but this was the first Sunday afterward, so the public festivities were saved for the weekend). I could sense nonetheless the presence of a grand spectacle of faith reaffirmed. Oh, yeah, I also finally figured out how to get our gas oven in the apartment turned on so that my meals no longer had to be cooked on the stovetop. Coincidence? You decide.

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